Pagan metal

Pagan metal is an umbrella term for heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages", usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band In the Woods... was one of the first bands commonly viewed as pagan metal.Metal Hammer author Marc Halupczok wrote that Primordial's song "To Enter Pagan" from the band's demo "Dark Romanticism" contributed to defining the genre.

Characteristics

Pagan metal is "more of an idea than a genre" and consequently bands tend to be "wildly different" from one another. Bassist Jarkko Aaltonen of the band Korpiklaani notes that bands singing about "Vikings or other ancient tribes of people are all labelled as pagan", regardless of whether they use folk instruments. Heri Joensen expressed a similar description of pagan metal as bands that sing about "pre-Christian, European traditions, be they historical or mythological" and notes that it is "musically extremely diverse because it is more about the lyrics than the music". Some bands are known to be "sprightly and spirited" while others are "bleak and doomy". Vocal styles range from "melodic chanting to unearthly growling" and while some acts sing in their native language, others sing in English.